Dawn of a New Morning
by blue-crystal-9
Summary: Hitsugaya wakes up in the forth division after the Soul Society’s battle with Hueco Mundo to find Hinamori waiting for him, and they have much to discuss. Kind of AU off of what’s currently going on in the manga. Hitsugaya/Hinamori, one-shot.


**Title: **Dawn of a New Morning**  
Author:** blue_crystal_9**  
Rating:** PG**  
Pairing:** Hitsugaya/Hinamori**  
Spoilers:** I'd say spoilers up to the recent manga chapters, just to be safe.**  
Warnings:** None.**  
Summary:** Hitsugaya wakes up in the forth division after the Soul Society's battle with Hueco Mundo to find Hinamori waiting for him, and they have much to discuss. Kind of AU off of what's currently going on in the manga.**  
Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach, Tite Kubo does. I am not making any profit from this, it is for entertainment purposes only.**  
Author's Note:** As I said above, this is kind of AU. I wrote this back when Hitsugaya had just started fighting Halibel, so there are some things that are different that what happened in the manga. This fic basically came from me worrying about what's going to happen to Hitsugaya in his fight with Espada number 3. But now the situation has kind of changed in the manga, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to escape unscathed. LOL. ;)

Also, I wrote this before the vizards entered the battle, because I had a feeling that they would appear eventually in it, hence the mention of it in the fic. But it's kind of out of context here because of the fact that I wrote it before the vizards actually made their appearance. So, again with the slight AU-ness of this fic. And sorry if that didn't make any sense, I'm really tired right now. ;_;

I've had this little hospital scene bouncing around in my head for _ages_ and I needed to write it down before it ate my brain. ;)

* * *

_Give me one more time around  
Give me one more chance to see  
Give me everything you are  
Give me one more chance to be near you_

_Everything inside me looks like  
Everything I hate  
You are the hope I have for change  
You are the only chance I'll take_

"_On Fire"_ by Switchfoot

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* * *

He wakes up, quickly becoming aware of the dull, constant pain radiating in his chest and the smaller pains everywhere else. He tries to sit up, and hisses when the wound in his chest protests against the action. His eyes trail down his body, noting the bandages. Something at the edge of his peripheral vision shifts slightly and he turns to see a tousled brown head leaning against the edge of the bed, apparently asleep.

Hitsugaya immediately realizes that it's Hinamori and simply stares for a moment. This is the first time he's been in the same room as her since the day he found her stabbed and bleeding on the floor. She's here and she's alive and he is secretly overjoyed to see that there is much more color in her cheeks than the last time he saw her. The dark circles under her eyes are mostly gone now too. Before he can stop himself he reaches over and brushes a hand through her loose hair.

Hinamori stirs and he jerks his hand back quickly but it's too late. She lifts her head, blinking around the room blurrily, most likely wondering what woke her up. Her eyes land on his form and widen when she realizes he isn't unconscious anymore.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" She gasps. "You're awake!"

"Hinamori." He croaks, his voice rusty from misuse. He winces as pain shoots down his torso and Hinamori's hands flutter about worriedly. She looks like she wants to give him a hug but decides against it. There are injuries all over his body and she would most likely hurt him rather than give him comfort. She contends herself with placing her hand on his arm instead.

"How are you feeling?"

"Crappy." Hitsugaya mumbles, squinting at her tiredly. His head feels like it's been stuffed with cotton. "How long have I been out?"

"You've been unconscious for a week now."

"A week?!" He chokes, sitting up abruptly and in retaliation his entire torso throbs terribly. He gasps, bent over in pain.

"Don't move, Hitsugaya-kun! You'll hurt yourself!" Hinamori scolds worriedly.

"I realize that, idiot." Hitsugaya mutters as he leans back carefully against the pillows.

"Well then, don't move!" Hinamori retorts.

"Shut up."

They glare silently at each other for a moment until Hinamori's eyes soften. "I'm glad you're okay, Shiro-chan. When I saw you fall out of the air, I thought…" She trails off, eyes sad. He says nothing about the nickname; she's gotten into the habit of not using it, but every once and a while she slips up. It hurts him to remember the last time she said it ("_I don't know what to do, Shiro-chan!"_). He pushes the memory away.

"That's right, I fell." Hitsugaya vaguely remembers falling out of the air after being overcome by the Espada. He fuzzily recalls feeling arms grabbing before he succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness. "Someone caught me, right?"

"Oh, yes. That was me."

Hitsugaya blinks in surprise, "What?"

"I was the only one who saw you fall, and I got over there as fast as I could. Luckily you hadn't fallen too far by the time I reached you. I was able to heal you enough so that you wouldn't bleed to death."

"Oh. Obviously, since you and I are here right now, the battle turned out… alright, I presume?"

Hinamori nods, "Yes, the vizards came and-"

Hitsugaya interrupts her. "Vizards? What's that?"

"Oh, right, you don't know about them." She launches into a brief explanation about the vizards, but she doesn't really know the entire story, only vague bits and pieces that she has overheard. Hitsugaya isn't really bothered by it; he'll get the full story later on anyway and right now he's too exhausted to concentrate properly. Hinamori finishes with, "And Renji introduced me to Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends yesterday. They're quite interesting people." Hinamori smiles humorously.

Hitsugaya snorts. "To say the least."

"Anyway, the vizards came and along with some of the other captains took care of… the _er,_ threat."

"Ah, so… they're…" Hitsugaya trails off, uncertain how to proceed without paining her.

"Dead." Hinamori finishes for him. "Yes, all three of them. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Good." There is an undertone of ice in his words; his anger toward the betrayers, especially the towards the leader, had not been forgotten.

"Then they were able to get Kurosaki-kun and the rest back from Hueco Mundo; they'd taken care of the Espada that had remained there. And then we took all the injured back, and now here we are."

"I see. Thank you for …not letting me die."

Hinamori smiles slightly, "It was the least I could do; you'd already saved me."

Hitsugaya's voice is bitter, "Not exactly. I was rather unsuccessful."

Her face twists, and Hitsugaya feels a pain in his chest again; this time not physically. He'd been trying to stay away from that topic, but he'd failed. "It wasn't your fault, Hitsugaya-kun. I was… far too trusting." His heart lurches, and he dares to hope that she has finally seen through Aizen.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of that." Hitsugaya murmurs. "He took advantage of you Hinamori, of your trust. It's not your fault."

"I know. I just wish I could have seen it." She wipes discretely at her eyes, but Hitsugaya can see that she's crying.

"We all wish that Hinamori." He says softly, taking her hand in his as an act of comfort and brushes his thumb over her knuckles. He approaches it cautiously, "So, do you... er, believe that he…ah…"

"Oh, I finally realized who he truly was a while ago."

Hitsugaya exhales raggedly, relief circulating through him in waves. His earlier hope had not been dashed; she'd finally seen the truth about Aizen.

"I'm sorry for what I said before, over the video monitor. When I asked you to…" Her face twists again, "…_save_ him." They both flinch at the memory. "I was still denying the facts."

"Don't worry about that Hinamori, you were confused."

She nods. "Yes. It didn't take me long before I figured out what a fool I'd been."

He looks at her intently with his green eyes. Although she looked better on the outside, on the inside it could be a completely different story. She could be just as broken as she had been before.

"How are you Hinamori, truthfully?" She opens her mouth but he gives her a stern look, "Do not lie, you're a terrible liar and I'll know if you do."

She smiles wryly, "I'm… feeling better than I was before, but I'm certainly not as good as I was originally. I'm working on it." Her voice carries an undercurrent of pain however, and Hitsugaya knows she has only barely healed.

"It will take time, but you will feel better." Hitsugaya says quietly, tightening his hold on her hand. He then realized exactly how long he's been holding onto her hand and blushes slightly, gently pulling his hand back.

Hinamori's expression is neutral except for the tiniest flicker of amusement in her eyes and the slight upturn of the corners of her lips.

Dammit. He hopes his face isn't as red as he thinks it is.

It is then, while his eyes flick wildly around the room in search of something else to look at besides her face, that he notices there are bandages on her as well. "You're hurt." He wonders how much she had risked her own life to save him from falling to death when she had already been injured herself. He decides to leave that question for later.

She nods. "I was. I certainly wasn't as bad as you are, but I did puncture a lung and I had a few other injuries. But I'm much better now. I got out of the hospital a few days ago, but I've been hanging around here waiting for you to wake up and keeping Matsumoto company. She's going to be in here probably longer than you are."

He'd forgotten about his vice captain. He winced internally. Some captain his was. "That's right; I remember feeling her reiatsu drop. What happened?"

"The… _thing_ we were fighting took out half of her torso. Luckily Kira got to her in time before she bled to death." She shudders at the memory. "It was one of the worst things I'd ever seen." They both knew the very worst thing she had seen was Aizen's sword stabbing her in the chest. "She's a lot better now, but the forth division still has to work on her every day. It's going to be a while before she's released."

"Speaking of which," He fixes her with his best pissed off captain glare. "Why, pray tell, were you _out on the battlefield_ _in the first place?_"

Hinamori squirms slightly under his scrutiny but her voice is strong when she answers. "Because I couldn't just sit around while everyone else was fighting. They were all risking their lives while I sat pitying myself and moping in the fourth division. The same thing had happened to Matsumoto and Hisagi and Kira, and they managed to pick up the pieces and continue on, so I decided it was high time I did the same."

"Idiot." Hitsugaya growls. "You still weren't fully healed, you could have died."

Hinamori sighs, "Save the lecture, Hitsugaya-kun." Her voice softens. "I'm sorry for making you worry, but I had to do what I thought was right." Hitsugaya has to stop himself from thinking about the fact that the last time she did that, she had a sword pointed at his throat. "And I was already told off by Unohana-taicho." She flinches. "That was scary. Not to mention Hisagi as well. He scolded me for a good twenty minutes." A brief smile appears on her face. "He was in with Matsumoto even more than I was. He stayed with her even while she was asleep." Grinning, she says slyly, "I think he's got a thing for her."

Hitsugaya rolls his eyes, "Like that's anything new. Ninety-five percent of the men in soul society have "a thing" for her, as you so eloquently put it."

She giggles, and then suddenly her face softens. She lunges for him, hugging him tightly.

"H-Hinamori! Injuries!" He manages to choke out as white hot pain shoots down his torso. He realizes that he must have broken some ribs too, as the pain wasn't just in the area where he had been cut. He'll have to ask Unohana about his injuries later.

She loosens her hug, but still keeps her arms wrapped loosely around him, face buried in his shoulder. "Sorry! I forgot."

"How could you possibly _forget_? I'm covered in bandages, stupid."

"I'm glad you're not dead." She sniffs, and he realizes she's crying. Again.

Well, crap.

He nudges her shoulder, "Hey, don't cry. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were sad I was alive instead of happy."

She looks up at him crossly, eyes still slightly teary. "Hey, I _am_ happy."

He snorts, "Yeah, cause your face sure looks happy."

"Oh, shut up Shiro-chan."

"Don't call me that." He responds grumpily.

"Whatever." She mumbles. He flicks her in the nose and she squeals indignantly. "Ow! Don't _do_ that, Shiro-chan!"

"Well, don't call me Shiro-chan."

"Ugh, I'm not getting into this again. It just turns into a vicious circle."

"Precisely. That's been my point all along. Just stop calling me Shiro-chan and all of our problems are solved."

Hinamori rolls her eyes at him. "Oh, hush." Her expression turns solemn again. "Seriously Hitsugaya-kun, I'm so glad you're not dead. I'm not sure how… sane my state of mind would be right now if you had left me too."

"I'm sorry." His voice is quiet.

"About what?"

"That I wasn't able to stop him from hurting you. I failed to protect you." Pain is apparent in his eyes.

"Hitsugaya-kun…" Hinamori murmurs, shocked. "Don't beat yourself up over that. You did what you could, and that was plenty."

"But it wasn't enough."

"Hitsugaya-kun, you almost died trying to protect me. That was much more than I could ever ask of you." Her eyes mist up and she buries her head in his shoulder again.

"You found out about that part." He was hoping to keep the fact that he had almost died under a low profile; he didn't want her to feel more upset than she already was over what Aizen had done.

"Yes."

"Who told you?"

"Matsumoto."

"Of course it was Matsumoto." He grounds out.

"Well, I asked if she knew what happened after Aizen stabbed me, and she told me the truth. I'm glad she did, because I don't need to be lied to anymore."

Hitsugaya sighs, rubbing her back awkwardly, and hoping she doesn't notice his wince of pain as he does so. "Look, let's just drop this subject for now. We'll discuss it later, when we're fully healed and I'm not so tired."

"Deal." She yawns, curling up by his side. He raises an eyebrow at her until she responds, "What?"

"Why aren't you going back to your own bed?"

"My bed is all the way down the hall, and I'm comfortable. And your bed is squishier, and not to mention larger. I mean, how is that fair that you captains get better hospital beds than the rest of us?" Hinamori complains.

"My bed is not larger." Hitsugaya says incredulously.

"It so is."

"No, it's not. You're ridiculous."

"I am not. You want to go measure, or something?" Hinamori glares at him defiantly.

Hitsugaya flops back against his pillow. "You know what, I don't even care anymore. Stay if you want."

"Ha, I win." Hinamori says triumphantly.

"Think that if you must." Hitsugaya responds dryly.

"I will, thanks." Hinamori yawns and Hitsugaya scoffs at her.

Hinamori is almost asleep before she mumbles, "You know, I don't quite get why you're so overprotective of me sometimes. It's… very…mysterious."

Luckily Hitsugaya is saved from replying because Hinamori has fallen asleep.

He's really not sure how she'd react if he told her the reason he's so protective of her is because he loves her.

Now _that_ would be an interesting conversation.

Hitsugaya's eyes stay toward the window, and for the first time he realizes how early it is. It is just after dawn, and the sky has just started to become bright, with little spots of the rising sun peaking out through the clouds.

Dawn signals a new day; it is a beginning, it is a new start. And with a new day comes change, sometimes good and sometimes bad.

As Hitsugaya watches the sun began to stream into the window, highlighting Hinamori's face and making it glow almost angelically, he thinks that this change happening now is not bad. Soul Society will repair itself, and everyone will bond together after the face of such tragedy. Slowly things will begin to mend and become stronger than ever. His last thought before he drifts off to sleep is that Hinamori too will heal. She will not be the same innocent girl she was before, she will change. She too will mend, perhaps never completely, but eventually the bad memories will fade as they are replaced with happier ones.

For dawn comes bright with hope.

* * *

**End.**


End file.
